Megaman X Zero's legacy
by Sargent Toughie
Summary: X and Zero have fought together for several years. They have been friends, rivals, comrades, and most of all, brothers. All that, tragically, is about to change forever. This is a story arc between the X and Zero series
1. Maverick Hunters

That's right folks, it's another Megaman story arc. My first one explored the time gap between Megaman and X, now this one will take a look at what I think happens in the time between X and Zero. Prepare yourself for even more drama, even more fighting, and even more epic moments as you take a look at _Megaman- Zero's Legacy_.

Oh, and how could I forget?... I don't own Megaman X or any of the characters involved in the Megaman X universe... no matter how much I wish I did (Still waiting for X9 to come out... we can always dream, can't we?)

* * *

Rubble rocketed in every direction as the massive Reploid threw an entire car through the wall. It's intended targets all rolled out of the way to avoid the car as it flew towards them. As the car rocketed out into the outside streets, frightened shouts and screams could be heard inside the factory as both humans and Reploids fled the scene. This was actually a good thing, as that meant innocent people wouldn't be caught up in this battle.

Raising his buster up to chest level, X looked over for his two allies. He had to break contact with them in order to dodge the car as it came towards them.  
"Zero! Axl!"

Zero was only a few feet away, his saber was drawn and he was prepared to leap at the opponent. Shooting a glance over at X, he gave a short nod to indicate that he was alright. The third hunter, Axl, had propelled himself above the hole and was clinging to the wall. He looked in X's direction and gave a thumbs-up. X knew that his allies weren't going to be destroyed by a single thrown car, the three hunters had been through too much together for X to be concerned about that. However, because of the growing strength of the Mavericks that they fought on a regular basis, knowing exactly where his allies were at all times became vital if they were to defeat their more powerful opponents.

X attacked again, firing his buster at the maverick, however, the massive machine simply brought it's arms together to form a massive shield that blocked the shot and sent it dissipating harmlessly into the air. Groaning a bit, X moved around to the maverick's side while Zero flanked around to it's back. Seeing the potential for a pincer attack, Axl fell from the wall and landed smoothly on the ground. Acting quickly, he fired one of his handguns to distract the large opponent. The opponent blocked with it's arms again to repel Axl's rapid fire, however, this gave X and Zero the opportunity they needed to counterattack. From behind, Zero rushed in and drove his saber into the shoulder of the maverick. Back in the old days, Zero's sword was capable of slicing an opponent clean in half, but with recent advances in technology, the Reploid's armor caused the blade to screech to a halt after it dug in only a few inches.

Howling in pain, the maverick swung around and smashed Zero with it's arm. Zero was launched backwards, his back smashed against the wall of the factory. It pained X to see Zero being hit that hard, but he had to keep on the attack before seeing if his ally was okay. X fired another charged shot at the injured shoulder while it was still distracted by hitting Zero. Around the same time that Zero hit the wall, the charged shot smashed into the damaged section of the Maverick's shoulder, causing an entire section of the Maverick's body to break clean off.

This would have been enough to cause any sane Reploid to halt their attacks, but not for a maverick. Mavericks fought to the death, they didn't back down or retreat, ever. X had seen it all too many times in the past, opponents with brutal and grievous injuries continued to relentlessly attack until their moment of death. Even with his entire left arm missing, the Maverick charged at X, punching downward at him with it's remaining arm. While X dodged to the side, Axl flanked around and poured bullets into the exposed innards of the machine. As Axl fired, he succeeded in wreaking havoc to the inside of the maverick. After a desperate cry of pain, the machine began to self-destruct. Rushing quickly out of the blast radius of the maverick, X turned around to watch as the opponent blasted to pieces before his eyes.  
"Another attack... that's the third maverick outbreak in as many days..."

Axl stepped up to X, putting his gun away and looking at X seriously.  
"This is getting out of hand, the Sigma virus is running rampant."

Axl hadn't quite been the same ever since the battle against Lumine, he had suffered a serious injury during that battle. He was fully repaired only a few days afterward, however, everything he did seemed to require more effort. Each step he took seemed to sap just a bit more energy from his body then it used to, the more obvious change, however, was that he was now prone to spastic and violent headaches. Out of nowhere, he would grab his head in agony as a headache broke out, then the pain would vanish just as quickly as it came. At first the headaches only lasted a few moments, but as time went on, they got more violent and lasted longer. One of his most recent outbursts lasted as long as a full twenty seconds before it finally faded away.

X and Zero were having troubles as well, however, theirs came more from old age than headaches. Both X and Zero were considered antiques by today's society, and while they were still able to destroy their opponents and save lives, it took a lot more effort and teamwork then it used to. X recalled his first battle against Sigma, how with the help of Dr. Light's upgrade capsules that were left for him, he was able to defeat sigma singlehandedly. But these days, if X went off on his own against a powerful opponent, he didn't stand much of a chance.. X knew that Zero suffered from the same troubles too, as the two were now equal in terms of their fighting abilities. In all honesty though, it was a miracle that they were so powerful to begin with. Any other maverick hunter that was as old as X and Zero were would likely be more of a hindrance on the battlefield than any help at all. The fact that X and Zero were still powerful and useful fighters was absolutely unheard of for any other maverick hunter. There was something very unique about X and Zero, there was no question about that.

X glanced at the pile of rubble that remained of their opponent, he knew that Axl was right about the Sigma virus running rampant. A chip had been installed in all new generation reploids that was supposed to protect them from going maverick. Tragically, this same chip also carried the sigma virus, which sent reploids maverick regardless. In an attempt to make a better world, all reploids had been placed under the crazed thumb of Sigma. In their most recent encounter with him, he stated that he wanted to build a new world with his 'children'. The trio managed to defeat Sigma in this battle, destroying him for good, however, even without Sigma to control these new reploids, they went maverick regardless.

Pulling his eyes off the defeated opponent, X looked up at Axl with a short nod.  
"No kidding... But what can we really do other then keep fighting?"

By this point, Zero had gotten back up to his feet. Making his way over to X and Axl, he put his sword away and crossed his arms.  
"There's not really much we can do. We just have to protect what we can, stop these mavericks for as long as we're able to"

X and Zero made eye contact for a moment, technology was advancing by leaps and bounds every day, both of them knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up for very much longer. Axl lowered his head, even though they had defeated their opponent, the atmosphere didn't feel much like a victorious one.  
"Yeah, but... it just feels like we're fighting the inevitable... that's all"

X was the next one to speak, balling his fist as he spoke, X tried to look as determined as possible.  
"Maybe we are fighting the inevitable... but if it buys the people we protect another day of peace... then I'm willing to keep on fighting."

Zero nodded in agreement, he reflected for a moment on how much X had changed in the time that the two of them fought together. He had gone from not wanting to fight any maverick, to being willing to commit his entire life to maverick hunting if it meant that others would be able to live in happiness. Speaking again, Zero decided to pull the trio's mind off of how hopeless things seemed.  
"Let's get back to HQ, Alia is going to want to hear what happened."

The two other hunters seemed to agree, and with no other words, the trio vanished from the scene in three flashes of light.

* * *

The black armored warrior stepped through the dark halls of the building. If his information was correct, the individual he was looking for would be somewhere around here. Opening door after door and looking into room after room, he began to grow concerned that his entire trip would be a waste of time. However, as one door in particular slid open, a massive explosion rang out to show the black armored warrior that he had found the one he was looking for. Being shoved back several feet by the ensuing blast, he brought his buster out and aimed it down each side of the hallway. He aimed it to the left of him, nothing was down that hallway. Then he turned to the right side of the hallway, nothing again. The black armored warrior was about to enter the room when a voice suddenly rang out behind him, and he felt something press up against the back of his head.

He had found the one he was looking for, this beast had incredible talents if he was able to sneak up on the Black armored warrior as easily as he did. Speaking in an angry tone, the target spoke to the warrior.  
"You've got two seconds before I blast your head off, start begging!"

The black armored warrior was a bit thrown off, but he wasn't concerned about being killed. This misunderstanding would be over in a matter of seconds.  
"If you want X and Zero dead, you won't fire"  
"..."

The rifle aimed at the warrior's head lowered slightly, but he could still feel that his target hadn't completely lowered his guard yet. Speaking to the warrior again, the target's voice seemed only slightly less hostile.  
"I'm listening."

The warrior grinned, his target's ear was all that he needed.  
"Killing X won't satisfy me, but it's the closest thing I can get to settling an old score... a very old score..."  
"And Zero?"

The warrior turned around to face his target. The target wore dark green armor, and had a small arsenal of weaponry covering his body. The most identifiable strait to him was a T shape on his helmet, with no face showing. Vile, as the warrior had been told, was his name. Speaking in a tone almost as crazed as Vile's was, the warrior glared at his target.  
"Is revenge good enough of a motive for you?"

Vile put his arm down, apparently revenge was more then enough of a motive for him.  
"Yeah, it is... So just who are you?"  
"My name is Bass."

Vile's expression was nothing more then a shadow behind his helmet, but Bass got the idea that he may have been grinning under the helmet from the way his voice sounded when he responded.  
"You know Bass, I never work with partners... but something tells me that you and I have a lot in common. If you're going after those maverick hunters, then we'll hit them together..."  
"They'll die by our hands"

A third voice rang out behind Bass as he spoke these words, this one sounded slightly more civilized then Bass and Vile.  
"Yes, they will."

Bass and Vile both turned to the source of this third voice, he was standing up against the nearby wall with his arms crossed. The body of the third person was a mixture of purple and white, with silver hair running down to his backside. Even though his voice was calmer than that of Bass or Vile, the look in his eye was just as insane and crazed.  
"I have a grudge against those two as well... So I figured I'd just follow Bass here and get in on the plan..."

Bass scowled, the fact that this person was stalking him was enough to get on his nerves.  
"And who exactly are you?"

The silver haired man smirked a bit as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off the wall.  
"You can call me Dynamo."

**end**

* * *

And so concludes the first chapter of my newest Megaman story arc. I hope you enjoyed it, and I truly hope that you're looking forward to the second chapter. As always, feedback is welcome, I'd love to hear about how I can improve the quality of writing... even just a little bit.

Until next time, all my faithful readers.


	2. Tragedy

Hello again, and thank you for reading the second installment of Zero's Legacy. This is where things start to get interesting, so I hope that you'll continue to read and enjoy my humble story. But you didn't click on this link to hear me ramble on about random nonsense, you're hear to read a story. So, without any further delay, I present to you... Chapter 2 of Zero's Legacy- Tragedy

* * *

**Megaman X: Zero's Legacy**

**Chapter 2: Tragedy**

Alia stepped quietly through the hallways of the laboratory, she hoped that her colleague was on to something. She had received a message at her terminal saying that there was something Alia had to see. The message sounded extremely urgent, so Alia ducked out of Maverick hunter HQ a little early and headed over to the lab that was a secret to everybody but Alia and her colleague. She had kept his existence a secret from the maverick hunters. While she was sure that she could trust X with the secret, she was just as sure that Signas or any of the other hunters wouldn't have the same understanding. Once she was certain that she wasn't being watched by any more of her comrades, Alia headed directly for the hidden lab, there were measures in place to ensure her colleague's safety.

Once inside the lab, Alia ignored all the broken down equipment that littered the main rooms, making her way towards the back. In the very back of the laboratory, there was a single room that still flickered with life. As she opened the door, she saw her colleague at one of the tables against the wall, more focused on his work then the opening door behind him. Leaning against one of the walls, Alia crossed her arms and attempted to get his attention.  
"You called for me... Gate?"

The purple Reploid turned to face her, he smirked a little bit and motioned for her to come closer. After his defeat at the hands of X, Gate thought that his life was over. However, X brought his shambled remains to Alia, and she began to rebuild him. It took a very long time, but eventually, Gate opened his eyes again. With his life handed back to him by those he tried to destroy, Gate realized that he had done terrible things. And now, he worked only to repay the debt that he owed Alia and X, as well as try and earn his own redemption. He realized that this change of heart could have been brought on by tampering with his mind by Alia, but he couldn't care less at this point. Gate knew where his loyalties lay, and he wasn't about to turn against them.  
"Yes, I've discovered something very interesting about two of your favorite maverick hunters... X and Zero"

Alia's eyes widened in surprise, she never questioned what Gate was always working on down in these labs. As long as he didn't try to attack the maverick hunters, she had always turned a blind eye to the things he was doing. To hear that he was looking into X and Zero, Alia didn't know what to think. She trusted Gate, she always had, she hoped that he was looking into ways to help them, ways to make their battle against the mavericks easier. Walking closer to the purple reploid, Alia looked over the data that Gate seemed so fixated on.  
"What do you mean? What have you discovered?"

Gate pointed to several different parts of the screen, speaking quickly as he explained himself to Alia.  
"There's a reason that those two have fought so well. A reason that such old and outdated Reploids have been so powerful even today."

Alia paused and reflected on his words, there was no question about it. There was something very unique about those two.  
"Gate, do you know what it is?"

Gate nodded, tapping in a particular part of the data, specifically a piece taken from X's blueprints. Alia had to wonder for a moment, how on earth did Gate get his hands on X's blueprints? Regardless, Alia looked over the piece of information that Gate seemed so crazed about, and after thinking for a moment, she gasped in shock. The thing she was looking at was scientifically impossible.  
"That... that can't be!"

Gate shook his head, as though he expected that outburst. Turning his attention exclusively on Alia, Gate gave her a serious look.  
"But it is possible, it all makes so much sense now."

Alia's shock didn't fade away, it seemed she was still having trouble believing what she was seeing.  
"H-how!?"

Gate smirked, glancing down at the information that had rocked the world of both scientists. He glanced at the name on the blueprints, feeling untold respect for the man responsible.  
"That Thomas Light... was a real piece of work."

* * *

X, Zero, and Axl were responding to a call, apparently a mob of reploids had gotten out of control at a nearby power plant. Although mass maverick outbreaks almost never happened, with the way this world was developing it wasn't an unthinkable call. The message had sounds of shouting reploids and gunfire in the background as well, and the voice sounded extremely urgent. As such, it would go against their duties as maverick hunters to not investigate. As the three beams of energy landed inside the plant, all three hunters readied their weapons for what would be a brutal battle.

Something was off though, the entire plant was empty, there wasn't a reploid in sight. And as for the rest of the plant, there wasn't even a single trace that a fight had taken place. There were no destroyed structures, everything seemed neat and orderly, the whole place looked like it had been cleared out and abandoned without a fight. X and Zero knew this feeling all too well, they had been led into a trap. Axl, on the other hand, seemed to be more concerned about his mental condition then what was going on around them. X and Zero made eye contact, they had to be aware of their surroundings at all times if they wanted to survive what was no doubt waiting for their arrival at this plant.

Usually these traps started with some sort of attack from behind, where the enemy would try to get a preemptive strike on the group before revealing himself. This one was different though, as a reploid in black armor slowly walked up to them from one of the corners. Although he spoke to the entire trio, he never took his eyes off X, something that made the blue maverick hunter feel extremely uneasy.  
"No doubt about it... You were modeled after HIM."

X rose his buster up to chest level, aiming it at the black reploid. Although he had no idea what the opponent was talking about, he knew that it wasn't going to be a friendly first encounter.  
"Modeled after who? Who are you?"

The black reploid glared at X darkly, raising his own buster and pointing it towards X.  
"Modeled after the one person I wanted to destroy more then anything! You look just like Megaman!"

X paused in surprise, he had never heard of that name before.  
"Megaman?"

The black reploid looked like he was about to say something again, but Zero stepped in between the two of them, drawing his saber.  
"Alright, buddy, I don't know who you think you are but-"

Before he could even finish the sentence, a rocket beamed down towards him, causing him to jump away in order to dodge it. Suddenly, a familiar opponent wearing green armor jumped down from the rafters to the right of the trio. X looked over at the opponent in shock.  
"Vile!?"

Not even a second after X's exclamation, a purple blade came rushing at all three of the hunters, causing all of them to scatter in order to avoid it's strike. Returning to it's owner like a boomerang, an equally familiar opponent to X and Zero made his appearance. The silver haired reploid grabbed his blade and kept it close to his side. Looking over in dismay, Zero groaned a bit.  
"Dynamo!? You too?"

Axl gasped a little bit, forcing himself to focus on the trio of opponents rather then the condition of his mind.  
"You've gotta be kidding me? We've got a fan club now?"

Zero looked over, somewhat relieved to see that Axl's sense of humor was still alive somewhere in his mind.  
"I don't think they're here for our autographs, Axl"

No further words were needed, the battle was on. Bass and Vile both charged at X, but Axl sped into the path and rammed into Bass, sending the two of them away. Now only needing to focus on Vile, X rose his buster and fired. Vile proved that he had incredible speed as he jumped over the shot and fired a rapid burst of small bullets at X. the blue maverick hunter responded by leaping backwards quickly and firing several shots of his own at the green opponent. Vile dodged these by rolling to the left in mid air, thanks to the help of a jetpack on his back. Aiming the cannon on his shoulder at where X would be at the end of his jump, he fired a rocket at the Maverick hunter. X was able to avoid this rocket by barely tapping his feet on the ground, then rocketing forward to avoid the explosion. This also put him directly under Vile, taking the opportunity, he rose his buster upwards towards him and fired a charged shot at him.

Meanwhile, Zero and Dynamo were locked in a furious battle of blades. Zero was bringing his saber down towards Dynamo's head, and Dynamo blocked with his blade, he then pulled the smaller sword off his hip and stabbed it upward at Zero's chest. Retreating away from the strike, Zero reacted quickly by attempting to flank Dynamo and rush in with a quick slash across the stomach. With his dual swords, Dynamo easily countered the rush and brought a sword down towards Zero's helmet. With a quick roll and a dodge, Zero was behind Dynamo. He then slashed diagonally aiming for Dynamo's back. Dynamo simply sped forward and spun around to avoid the slash. He then threw his smaller sword at Zero in an attempt to use his superior range to his advantage. Zero jumped over the sword and charged in close once more, striking with his saber. Dynamo was able to clash blades and stop Zero in his tracks. Looking behind him, he saw the second blade begin to return. Smirking a bit, he was sure that Zero was done for. However, Zero was well aware of the fact that the second blade acted as a boomerang, and so at the last possible second he back-flipped out of the clash and allowed the blade to return to Dynamo. He had hoped that Dynamo wasn't going to foresee this attack and that his own blade would cut through him, however, Dynamo reacted quickly and grabbed his blade.

The battle between Axl and Bass was extremely hard to follow, if only because both of them specialized in moving fast and using rapid fire attacks to subdue their opponent. Their battle consisted of the two fighters circling around each other in elaborate dodging maneuvers while trying to pummel the other with rapid fire fury. Axl had the advantage of maneuverability, as he was able to propel himself into the air, but there were several instances where Bass' rounds came dangerously close to his head, so he was able to feel that Bass had the advantage of superior fire power. It seemed that Axl was starting to wise up to the way that Bass moved, as he got closer and closer to damaging the black reploid. There were several instances where his bullets actually graced through the armor of his opponent. Anybody that was able to actually follow the battle would mark Axl as having the advantage. That changed in a heartbeat though, when Axl's head suddenly erupted in pain, feeling as though it was going to split in two. Falling to his knees in agony, Axl became the victim of a furious bombardment of rounds coming from Bass' buster. There was no mercy to be found from Bass, and Axl would have been completely destroyed if Zero hadn't intervened.

The red maverick hunter heard Axl's pained cries, and diverted his attention from his battle with Dynamo in order to attack Bass. Dynamo sought to use the distraction to his advantage as he charged after Zero, however, a charged shot from X sent him blasting backwards. Luckily for both Zero and Axl, X was open to assist for a few seconds because of his lucky shot that he landed on Vile. Zero sped in and slashed at Bass, since Bass was focused on firing at Axl, he didn't see the sword attack coming. Feeling his arm become separated from the rest of his body, Bass let out a howl of pain and snapped a punch at Zero. After the red maverick hunter easily avoided the attack, Bass was forced to retreat from the battle field. Grabbing his arm, he vanished in a beam of black energy. Turning to his heavily damaged comrade, Zero could tell from one glace that Axl wasn't in any condition to fight any more.  
"Axl, get out of here. Leave this to us!"

Reluctantly nodding, Axl vanished from the battle field. Vile was now returning to his feet, and Dynamo was shaking his head and recovering from the unexpected buster shot that he had taken. X and Zero made eye contact for a moment, realizing that they would need to coordinate their attacks if they were going to come out of this battle alive. Unknown to either hunter, however, Vile had placed explosives all over the power plant mere minutes before the battle began. Even now, they ticked down towards their detonation point. Vile was the only person currently in the warehouse that knew about the explosives, as he was willing to die if it meant that X or Zero went with him. He wasn't sure if the other two were as prepared to die as he was, so he didn't let Bass or Dynamo in on his dark plan.

Dynamo threw his blade atde X, more focused on the blue hunter since he had gotten hit by a charged shot. X jumped over the blade easily and fired several small shots at Dynamo while Zero flanked around to behind Dynamo. Vile took the opportunity to hit X, rather then protect Dynamo. He fired a rocket at X's back while he jumped, and threw a grenade to where he expected X to land. The result was X being hit in the back by the rocket, being caught in the ensuing explosion, and then falling forward and being caught in the second explosion of the waiting grenade. The smoke began to clear away, with Vile eagerly awaiting to see the result of his brutal attack.

Several feet over, he heard a desperate cry come from Dynamo as Zero succeeded in slicing him in half. Dynamo's two separate pieces fell to the ground and exploded. Zero, somewhat relieved that Dynamo was gone, looked over in dismay to see that X was severely damaged. Sparks chipped from the heavily cracked armor that covered X's body, both a portion of his left leg and his entire right arm were completely blown off. He seemed too damaged to stand up, let alone fight. Vile was stepping closer to X, pointing his shoulder cannon at the blue maverick hunter.  
"X, today... you die."

Before he could fire, Zero rushed in and swung his saber at Vile, forcing him to dodge by leaping backwards. Standing in between X and Vile, Zero glared at the green armored opponent.  
"X... run..."

X mustered up whatever was left of his strength to speak.  
"Zero... you can't... take him alone"

Zero's tone was steady, his anger suppressed under a level mindset and determination.  
"And you think you're going to help in your condition? No, get out of here X! I'll meet you at HQ"

Groaning, X knew that his comrade had a valid point.  
"You better... Zero"

With those last words, X vanished from the battle field in an all too familiar beam of blue light. Once X was gone, Vile prepared for his assault on Zero, he had hoped that he would be able to kill all three of the hunters today, but Zero alone would be good enough for Vile. He checked the countdown timer on his wrist, he only had about a half a minute left before the whole plant became nothing more then a crater. What a glorious way to die, he thought. He would have to ensure that he was as close to Zero as possible at the time of the explosion, as the highest concentration of explosives was inside Vile's own chest. He couldn't wait to see the despair in Zero's eyes as the two of them died together. Keeping an eye on his wrist timer almost the entire time, Vile rocketed into the air and propelled himself over his opponent. Right at the moment that he was directly above Zero, he opened a container in his knee and dropped a grenade downward towards Zero.

Zero reacted by dashing away from the explosion, and jumping up a wall towards Vile. As he closed in on Vile, Zero had no way of knowing that he was falling right into Vile's hands. Cutting with his saber across Vile's waist, there were a brief few seconds where Zero thought he had won. However, this thought vanished seconds later, as he felt Vile's arms seal themselves around his body. Vile pinned Zero's arms to his side, laughing hysterically as the two went crashing to the ground. Zero let out a pained groan as he smashed against the floor of the plant, he struggled to get out of Vile's iron grip. Vile's laughter didn't fade away, he didn't need to look at his timer to know that only mere seconds stood between him and his final, spiteful, act.  
"Are you ready to die one last time Zero!? This time, you won't be coming back!"

Zero hesitated in a mixture of disbelief and terror, Vile was going to kill himself if it meant the death of one of his most hated foes. Struggling all the more desperately, Zero refused to surrender to death as he made minimal headway in getting free of Vile's grip. A few painful moments later, he started hearing a beeping sound coming from Vile's wrist, which only caused the green maverick's laughter to become even more crazed and gleeful.  
"Five... four... three..."

Zero used the last of his strength to try and get free during Vile's countdown, hopelessness starting to cloud his thoughts.

"Gaah!"  
"Two... one..."

The power plant suddenly became a massive fireball, destroying everything and anything unfortunate enough to be in close proximity to the colossal blast.

* * *

With both X and Axl disabled and undergoing heavy repairs, now was the perfect time for the salvage operation. As Gate searched through the rubble of the power plant, he found several pieces of Zero's body, damaged beyond repair. He couldn't stop himself from feeling horrible that such a powerful and noble maverick hunter had met his end in such a brutal and unfitting way. He was glad that he didn't have to be around when his two allies got the news of Zero's final death, and he pitied Alia for having to be the bearer of such bad news, especially when she herself was grieving.

Turning over a surprisingly large rock, Gate got a brief hope that he had found what he was looking for as he saw a heavily damaged, but still intact, portion of Zero's chest. Peeling the cracked torso open, he found a perfectly intact protective casing. The device he was looking for was inside that. Zero's creator put a lot of emphasis on protecting whatever was inside, as it wasn't even dented by the blast that tore apart the rest of Zero's body. Using his expert engineering skills, Gate was able to force his way inside the casing within minutes, and inside, he realized that he had struck gold.

Pulling out a portion of Zero's circuit that wasn't destroyed by the blast, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.  
"I found it... the thing that makes... made... Zero what he was. What made him so special"

With this circuit in hand, Gate began to return to his lab, he had a lot of work ahead of him in the coming days.

**End  
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And so ends chapter 2: Tragedy. I hoped you enjoyed reading it, despite the... well... Tragedy in it, and I truly hope that you're looking forward to the third installment. As always, I love hearing your feedback, so if you've got something you want to say about my story, feel free to speak up. **  
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	3. Aftermath

I know that it's been a while since I've written anything, and so much for me ever getting around to writing more of my rift story… I'm far to immersed in writing my X story to really care about anything else right now. Of course, I hope to someday get back to my rift story. But bouncing between that, this story, and Legacy Gundam has left me rather taxed as far as story writing goes.

But enough of my rambling, here's chapter three of Zero's legacy.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Megaman X: Zero's Legacy**

**Chapter 3: Aftermath**

When X awoke, it felt like he had finally come around from what must have been a very long and painful nightmare. A black maverick named Bass had appeared in front of him, Axl, and Zero. By his side were two of X's old enemies, Dynamo and Vile. After a truly brutal battle, X had been critically wounded by Vile, and was forced to retreat, leaving Zero alone with Vile. Sitting up and clutching his head, X looked around to see himself in a repair station, Axl in a pod right next to him. In that moment, X realized that the battle had not been a dream. Looking around the room more, X noticed something that was rather odd, Zero was nowhere to be seen. After slipping out of the pod that X was being repaired in, he stepped out of the repair station to see a familiar face, Alia, the team's spotter from Maverick hunter HQ.

Alia had a bit of an unusual look on her face today, a look of sorrow that X had seen very few times in the many years that he had known Alia. Already sensing that something was wrong simply from the look on Alia's face, X walked up behind her, apparently not alerting her to the fact that X had liberated himself from the repair bay, his repairs being temporarily halted. Placing a hand on her shoulder, X couldn't help but worry about Zero's well being, he hadn't been in the repair chamber, and now Alia seemed extremely concerned with something.  
"Alia, is something the matter?"

He had clearly caught the female reploid off guard, as she turned around, startled to see him. She scrambled for words for several moments, it was obvious that she was trying to avoid saying something to X, which only proved to make him more worried for his partner.  
"O-oh, X, I didn't know that your repairs would be completed so soon."

X decided to be merciful on Alia by keeping the subject off of the battle for a little while in order to give her some time to collect her thoughts. But the time would eventually come where X would have to hear about what happened at the battle, something that X was sure was the subject of Alia's concern. Shutting his eyes and shaking his head, he spoke in a bit of an ashamed voice, after all, it was his weakness that put him in that repair chamber to begin with.  
"I'm not quite back up to 100% just yet, but I can move around on my own again"

Alia averted her gaze, it was clear that she was grateful for X not directly pressuring her about what was on her mind, not yet anyway. She knew that she only had a few minutes before the subject drifted towards what happened to Zero, she never enjoyed being the bearer of bad news. And she certainly wasn't looking forward to seeing the look on X's face when he heard that his partner and friend was gone for good. Then again, this wasn't the first time that Zero had died, perhaps that would help ease the pain of what she was about to say. She could only hope that was the case, and there was no way for her to know for certain.  
"that's a relief… You were pretty badly damaged when you came in from that ambush"

Enough time had passed, it had only been a few seconds, but in X's mind, it could have been a lifetime of waiting. The obvious dread and concern on Alia's face was killing X, he had to know what Alia was so worried about. He had to know what was with the look on her face. There was something she didn't want to say to X, and for the sake of his own sanity he had to know what that was. Of course, he already had an idea about who it concerned.  
"Alia… Where is Zero?"

That was the ticket, the way Alia's face sunk when Zero's name was mentioned could very well have been a flare to X, telling him what Alia was about to say even before a word had left her mouth. X denied it, the way she looked. He had to hear it from her mouth before he would make himself believe the inevitable truth concerning Zero.  
"Zero… He-… X, he never came back. He never returned from that warehouse"

X's eyes widened a bit, while he already knew what she was going to say, he had denied it up until this point. Wait, she had said something about how he never came back, that didn't say for certain that he was dead… did it? X pushed further, determined to get a straightforward answer out of the extremely reluctant Alia.

"What do you mean he never came back? Do you mean that he's…"

X couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, he had lost Zero twice in the past. The pain that he had felt both times was too much for any reploid to handle. If Zero had died a third time, X wouldn't know what to do with himself. Alia looked even further down, determined to not look X in the eyes as she continued to speak.  
"The building was rigged with explosives by Vile… He destroyed himself in order to make sure that he was able to take at least one of you along with him…"

Alia shook her head, after a couple seconds of silence from the blue maverick hunter, she knew that he wouldn't be responding. No doubt he was trying to piece together what had happened in the warehouse in his own mind. The seconds passed like days before Alia spoke. Each word stinging more then the last.  
"Vile… Didn't let Zero leave… We… We found him in pieces when we conducted our recovery operation"

X paused, thinking to himself, this was yet another chance for him to deny Zero's death for just a little bit longer. Zero had been blasted to pieces before, and they were able to rebuild him by recovering all of the pieces, was it possible for them to do that again? Shaking his head with desperation starting to creep into his voice, X replied to Alia's statement.  
"Wait, we could recover the pieces right? We could rebuild him, just like we did before, right? That's possible, right?"

Alia shook her head, it truly hurt her that she had to squash X's hope the way that she had to, but this was the role of the messenger… How Alia hated being the bearer of such horrible news.  
"I'm afraid not. Zero's control chip was nowhere to be found, even after days of searching… I believe that it's nothing more then a pile of dust now."

The pain of Alia's words smashed X over the head like a ten ton hammer. After hearing that his control chip was gone, there was no longer any way that X could deny that Zero was gone, and this time he was gone forever. Shutting his eyes, X came as close to crying as was possible for a robot to come. He pulled away from Alia and clobbered a wall. He wasn't upset with Alia for bearing the bad news, the one that he was most upset with, more upset with then even Vile for setting such a cruel trap, was himself. It was his weakness, his lack of conviction and strength, that had led to the permanent death of his closest and most dear comrade.  
"Damn it… Damn it! I shouldn't have let my guard down! I shouldn't have let Vile get the upper hand on me! I shouldn't have run away!"

Alia moved over, trying to comfort X as much as she could. Knowing that there wasn't much that she could do, she kept her distance and tried to speak in the most soothing voice that she could muster.  
"You did your best, X… there was nothing that you could have done…"

X shook his head in frustration, only time could possibly hope to heal a wound as big as loosing such a dear friend as Zero.  
"Enough… Just… Just leave me alone right now"

As Alia started to back away, X found himself changing his mind very quickly. He saw a way to push his sorrow, his pain from his mind. Now wasn't the time for him to be upset. Alia was heading for the door as X looked back over to her, forcing the sorrow in his mind away as he spoke in a very serious voice.  
"Alia… that black maverick that attacked us… Bass, where is he right now?"

Alia turned around, speaking before she had time to think about what she was saying.  
"We've tracked him to an abandoned facility in sector 34, why?"

X instinctively summoned his buster to his hand, holding it upwards in front of him.  
"It's my duty to destroy his kind. A duty that I plan to carry out"

Alia's eyes widened a bit, knowing instantly what X was trying to say.  
"X don't, you yourself just said that you're not completely repaired yet"

X shut his eyes, recalling how Zero had cut off one of the black maverick's arms.  
"Neither is he"

…...

Gate moved swiftly through the depths of his underground lab. With the subject isolated in it's own capsule on a shelf, Gate was putting all of his technological training to work in an attempt to understand more about it. It was a miracle that the chip was still intact after the blast, with the chip in his possession , and a proper understanding of how it worked, Gate would be able to create a perfect copy of Zero, as the original was gone forever.

With the blueprints for the new body already completed, Gate made several modifications and improvements over the original blueprints. Some improvements were simply possible because of the technological advances that had taken place since Zero's creation, and there were also several design flaws that came from Zero's creator. Despite Zero's incredible power, it was clear from his blueprints that he was hastily designed and built to be a rip-off of what made X so amazing. If Zero's creator had just put a little more effort forth, he could have created a much, much better machine.

Unlike the original Zero, Gate's modifications brought Zero much closer to the way that X was designed, which was with growth in mind. X was designed to grow as he fought, to become stronger over time. While Zero had this same ability, he was designed more as a war machine of the old ages, which meant that his own growth would be far downplayed when compared to X.

X's body was designed to receive upgrades on a periodic basis through the use of external devices, Zero's body never received such upgrade capacity. Which was a horrible design flaw, and further demonstrated the near-sightedness of Zero's creator.

With Gate's modifications, Zero would be able to grow and fight for generations after he was supposed to be obsolete. His life cycle would be even longer then the current X and Zero's were, and those two had been predicted to be scrap piles long, long ago. Gate paused in admiration of X's designer, the breakthrough that he had uncovered was nothing short of flawless.  
"The ability for a reploid's capabilities to grow as they fought, to learn and become stronger over time… such a discovery would be earth shattering, even in this day and age… to think that he created it over a hundred years ago…"

Gate looked down at the design plans for X one last time, for some reason, the sight of the X chip never got old to him, it was just as amazing as it was when he first uncovered the truth behind X's powers. It was the X chip that gave X his growing capacity, and likewise, Zero had the only other chip of it's kind, something that Zero's creator called the Z chip. These two chips were the only two ever created, and the breakthrough behind their creation had been lost for generations before Gate managed to uncover them.  
"With the Z chip installed in the new body I've designed… Zero will be the most perfect reploid to date"

Gate continued to go about his production, gathering the materials required for production while frequently looking over Zero's new blueprints, in an attempt to find any flaws in his design that Gate may have overlooked. Gate didn't want to make the same mistake as Zero's original creator, so he was being extremely careful to make the designs for the new Zero as perfect was he possibly could. If all went according to plan, Gate could begin production of the new Zero in only a couple more months.

…...

X beamed into an abandoned building, all of the sorrow, all of the pain, all of the regret that he felt for letting Zero die was being channeled into rage. Bass would pay for setting up that ambush, X would destroy him and make sure that he'd never do anything that cruel ever again.

Aiming up and down each corridor with his buster at the ready, X kept a careful eye out for if Bass had set up any traps or ambushes for the maverick hunter. It only took about fifteen minutes of searching through the facility before X came out into a wide room, the lights suddenly clicked on to reveal Bass sitting from the rafters above him. Dropping down, it was apparent that the repair of his arm was a rush job, as it was wobbling slightly and obviously not completely put back into place.

Aiming the damaged arm up, he transformed it into a buster, odd that he'd set up a straightforward fight this time, perhaps he wanted to set straight who was the stronger reploid. Though it was impossible for X to deduce what was going through the mind of Bass. He knew very little about the black armored fighter, and cared even less. Speaking in an enraged voice, X started to power his buster, planning to crush Bass with a charged shot.  
"Bass! That ambush of yours ended in the death of my friend! Now you'll pay!"

Bass laughed, not moving from his spot as the two talked for a short while before the inevitable battle.  
"Is that so? Well that's too bad for you, Megaman. Oh, that's right, you're nothing but a copy of Megaman, a fake"

X glared, growling with anger as his shot grew in power.  
"You started all of this because I happened to look somebody that you don't like… how insane can a person get!"

Bass grinned, X's anger only seemed to egg him on further.  
"You should ask that to yourself. Instead of letting those nice mechanics of yours finish fixing you, you came running after me as soon as you were able to walk. Do you really think that you can beat me with a half done repair job?"

X shouted in frustration.  
"And do you think that you can beat me with your arm about to fall off at any given second!"

Bass paused for a second, knowing that X had a point.  
"… Guess we're about to find out"

Without any further words, a massive shot erupted from X's buster, rocketing towards Bass. Bass retaliated by rolling out of the way and firing a quick burst of rapid shots at X's leg, which landed smoothly and caused X to stumble before Bass dashed away swiftly. Recovering from the quick attack after only a second, X fired several more shots at the much faster Bass. However, not a single shot hit the black maverick as he spun circles around X, continuing his rapid fire frenzy.

With swift movements, X was able to avoid an overwhelming majority of Bass' shots, with the occasional shot nicking him in the back of the leg, or the side of his arm.

Fatigued from his blitz, Bass stopped several feet away and prepared himself for another rush attack, one that would never come as X blasted a charged shot at him, one that smashed into his chest and sent him crashing onto the floor. X had learned over the years that with faster opponents, one had to be patient and wait for their guard to drop, and that's exactly what he did with Bass.

However, it became apparent that Bass wasn't down for the count as he recovered to his feet and dashed away before X had a chance to fire off a second shot. Hiding behind a pillar, Bass took this chance to recuperate and rethink his strategy. He'd have to be smarter if he was going to defeat X, who seemed to have much more experience then Megaman did back when the two battled.

After a couple of seconds, Bass was ready for a second attack, this time it would be something that X would, hopefully, not see coming. Rushing out from behind his pillar, Bass tore full speed towards X, firing his buster in a full frontal assault.

X had sorted Bass out in his mind as a mid range specialist, since most of the time he was fighting from five to ten feet away from his opponent. As a result, X wasn't prepared for the black maverick to charge into close range combat with X. Close range fighting was far from X's specialty, as he also preferred to fight at mid range. His eyes widening, he was utterly unprepared for when Bass slammed his buster up against X's chin, using an uppercut motion.

Since Bass' buster was firing the entire time, he succeeded in severely damaging X's head. Thinking that X was down for the count, Bass knelt down next to him and started speaking, laughing as he did.  
"And you were supposed to be stronger then Megaman! You're nothing but a joke! Come on, X, why don't you live up to that variable that you're named after? Limitless potential! You're a joke!"

Bass was so wrapped up in his taunting, he failed to see what X was doing until it was too late. The red jewel in X's helmet started to glow with a blinding light, and X's eyes flickered with what little light remained in them. His jaw was destroyed, so X was unable to make any noise as he moved. However, his left hand started to glow in a white light, and suddenly lunged up and stabbed Bass clear in the chest, puncturing his power generator with one furious strike.

Bass' eyes widened as he felt the generator puncture, of all the spots on his body where X could have attacked, he had to pick the power generator. Bass could almost feel the overload of power surging through his body, far too much for his frame to handle all at once. With one final, desperate shout, Bass keeled away from X and grabbed his head, exploding violently.

The power in X's body was down to an absolute minimum, his eyes were cracked, his mouth and chin were completely severed from his body, and all of his older injuries from the previous battle started to catch up with him. As the sight started to leave his eyes, he saw a familiar purple reploid in a white lab coat walk up to him, kneeling down in front of the damaged blue maverick hunter.

Gate rested a hand on X's chest, speaking in a sorrowful voice as he addressed the Blue hero.  
"Don't worry, X. When you wake up, everything will be better… I promise you"

…...

"Damn it! I knew that this would happen!" Were the words that Alia shouted as Gate carried X's damaged remains into their underground lab. It was understandable that she was distraught over the apparent loss of X, however, Gate had his mind set on making everything right, fixing everything that had been broken in recent days.  
"Alia, tell me… Why do you think X went after Bass like that? What drove him to take such careless actions?"

Alia shook her head, too filled with sorrow over the losses of both X and Zero to properly think about her words.  
"It was his conscience… X is unique because of the way he worries, the way he cares so much deeper about those around him…"

Gate nodded, he had indeed read something in X's blueprints about his conscience, how that was what made him so special.  
"Alright, I think I understand now"

Gate laid down X down in an repair capsule and started to repair the blue hero. Unlike Zero, X was still salvageable, X was able to be repaired, sent back into action. Gate spoke to Alia without taking his eyes from his work, he had to appear that he was working on something far too vital for his attention to be divided.  
"How is the third one doing, Axl?"

Alia turned to Gate, knowing that he was too busy with his work to look at Alia.  
"He's doing just fine, we're just about ready to re-activate him."

Gate smiled a bit, reassured that at least one of them would be ready for battle.  
"Tell him he'll be on his own for a little while… It'll take a few weeks before X is ready to get back in the fight."

Alia nodded, heading for the door to the lab.  
"I understand, Gate… Thank you"

Those were the last words that Alia spoke before she made her way out the door and back towards Maverick hunter HQ. As the door was shut to Gate's lab, he sighed to himself, speaking to the air around him.  
"Don't thank me, Alia… X won't be the same when he wakes up"

Gate sighed, he had to lie to Alia in order to cover up what he was doing. While the original X was able to be repaired, Gate had no intention of re-activating him. Gate had a newer version of X that was ready to be activated, a project of his that he had been working on for the last few months in order to test out his design capabilities.

The X that Gate planned to send out into the world was a copy, a fake.

…...

So that's the end of chapter three. As is the usual, I'm eager to hear about how I can improve the quality of my work, so if you see something that I can improve upon, please speak up.


	4. Copycat

Well, it's been a while since I've updated this story, but I had a lot of fun writing this one. This entire story in general has actually been a lot of fun to write, as a matter of fact. I know that I've got quite a few incomplete stories going right now, so I'm trying to be fair and even to all of them. Though that's sort of hard to do, since I have certain stories that I prefer over others.

Well, whatever. Here's Zero's Legacy, chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Megaman X: Zero's Legacy**

**Chapter 4: Copycat**

Axl sped through the city, both of his guns in hand as he raced towards the distress call. Maverick encounters had increased to a dangerously high level over the last few weeks. Both X and Zero were nowhere to be seen, the last time Axl had saw them was when they were attacked by that trio of mavericks in the warehouse. Axl had been told that both of them were undergoing extensive repairs, but he had a hard time believing that it was taking this long to see them fully repaired. After all, the three of them had all been damaged before, and it had never taken weeks, and all of the repairs were able to be done within the Maverick hunter headquarters. Whatever had happened to the two of them, the damage had to be extreme.

Axl came to a halt in front of a massive machine that had been running rampant through the city streets. It was intended as a construction reploid, but since it went maverick, it was nothing but a tool of destruction. Axl immediately opened fire with both of his handguns, pelting the construction reploid with rapid fire. The small rounds seemed to barely phase the maverick though, and it turned towards Axl and started to advance. The maverick brought out it's arm, revealing a chainsaw where it's hand normally would have been. The chainsaw started to whirl with life as it revolved around the maverick's arm. With it's weapon ready to deal damage, the maverick charged towards Axl, who was forced to retreat backwards in order to avoid the chainsaw that threatened to split the hunter in half. Axl groaned a little bit, this maverick was barely harmed by the shots that came from Axl's guns, and it was much faster then the hunter had anticipated.

Axl could only evade the maverick for so long, a hit from that chainsaw would be inevitable, and Axl knew it. All he could do was play for time and wait for his opportunity to bring down the maverick with a single, powerful strike. Without his two partners by his side, fights were far more challenging then they were in the past. Axl was always able to rely on X and Zero to break through a maverick's defenses, so that Axl could bombard the weakened core with his busters. Now, without either of his comrades, he had no real way of forcing past an enemy's thick and powerful armor.  
"Oh, Come on!"

The Maverick was closing in on Axl, and it seemed that it was moments away from sinking it's bladed arm into the maverick hunter when a massive blast roared out from above and demolished the Maverick with a single shot. Axl paused, stunned at the powerful attack for a moment before he saw a familiar blue form descend from the air and land smoothly on the ground below. Axl's gaze brightened immediately, and he rushed over to the blue maverick hunter, eager to greet his comrade.  
"X! Welcome back!"

X turned around to face Axl, a cold and serious gaze in his eyes. Axl could tell almost instantly that something was wrong with X, he didn't seem like the same person at all. X lowered his buster gun, tilting his head slightly as he spoke to Axl.  
"Axl... So you're still alive"

Axl was a bit thrown off by X's cold attitude, he smiled widely and lightly jabbed X in the shoulder, trying to see if X would get back to the more relaxed and kind person that he was before the battle with the three mavericks.  
"Of course I'm still alive, c'mon, I'm not gonna get myself killed so easy"

X simply shrugged, turning his gaze from Axl up towards the sky.  
"Fine then... We're wasting time, more mavericks are attacking even as we speak."

Without another word, X took off through the streets in search of his next target. Axl simply scratched the side of his head, confused by how rashly X had changed. He had never been so dark in the past...  
"What's gotten into you, X?"

Axl shook his head, deciding to put those thoughts on hold and chase after his partner, searching for whatever maverick X was pursuing.

* * *

Gate watched from the confines of his lab, the copy of X he had created was nothing like the original. Gate had missed something, something vital that made X the hero that he was, something that the copy X simply lacked. What was it? Gate looked over the blueprints for X so many times that he had memorized each and every component that went into the original's creation. All Gate did was update the technology so that the new X would be able to fight in the new generation without the challenges that the original faced. Gate was literally tormenting himself trying to figure out what was missing, the hidden secret that made X what he was.  
"Why... Why can there be only one X?"

Gate shook his head, forcing the matter from his mind. After all, he still had to complete the new Zero. Once Zero was living once again, he would take some time to carefully look over the original X and figure out what the missing component was. Gate turned back to the table that held the New Zero, he really had to pat himself on the back for this one. He had taken every single component, each specification as set out in the original blueprints, and he had improved upon them. This second Zero would be the true evolution of Reploids, the next step up. Now, all he had to do was finish up a few particular sections, and the new Zero would be ready to awaken, and begin his existence.

Gate paused for a moment, as a thought hit him... What would it be like, to be born into this world for the sole purpose of fighting? Never having a choice to live a peaceful life, always looking for that next great struggle. Never being completely at home unless you were fighting... Never being whole. Zero had never been given the option to put his sword away, he was built with the sole intention of killing. Perhaps that had something to do with what separated X from his partner. X fought for peace, he wanted to see a world where Reploids and Humans lived together, without fear of mavericks, or wars, or anything of that nature. Zero fought because that's what he was built to do. But, perhaps Zero found a deeper meaning in his battles as time went on... Perhaps he fought, and if his fighting could bring out a better world for his friends, then that would be all the better.

At least... That's what Gate theorized. He would have time later on to think about his theories, how accurate or outrageous they turned out to be.

He still had to finish Zero, and that took top priority.

* * *

"What the heck do you think you're doing, X!"

X had just blasted a hole straight through the body of a massive mechanaloid, one that only showed basic symptoms of going Maverick. X turned to Axl, who was utterly stunned at the heartless execution that the Blue maverick hunter had just demonstrated. X spoke in a cold voice, Axl realized that this guy was seeming less and less like the old X with each passing second.  
"He was going to go maverick anyway, why put people's lives in danger and wait until he turned completely?"

Axl balled his fist, he was utterly appalled at what was happening with his partner.  
"He was still sane though!"  
"And when he lost it? He would have gone on a killing spree, you can't deny that retiring him early saved lives."  
"I think that you're starting to lose it, X."

That accusation caused X's eyes to narrow, he glared over at Axl upon the completion of that last statement.  
"What did you just say?"

Axl shouted in frustration, his emotions clearly starting to get the better of him.  
"The old X never would have attacked an innocent Reploid! I don't know what they did to you when they gave you your upgrades, but there's something wrong with you now!"

The Headache came back, causing Axl to fall to his knees with a painful howl. X simply smirked a little as he watched Axl writhe in agony, he spoke in a condescending voice.  
"You know what's causing that pain, right? Your conscience is fighting against the Sigma Virus, which infected your body during our battle against Lumine. You're one lost battle away from going maverick, Axl."

Axl started to force himself back up to his feet, he glared at X with a hateful look in his eye.  
"Shut... Your... mouth... you copycat!"

X's eyes widened a little in dismay as Axl called him a copycat, a clone of the original X. He shook his head, his voice clearly that of denial.  
"No, I am X... I'm... a hero"

Axl reached down and grabbed one of his handguns, while his other hand clutched his head in pain. Once his hand was on his weapon, he stood straight up, holding the gun with both hands and aiming it directly at X. He was relieved to find that the pain of the headache was still there, but it didn't hurt as badly.  
"You're no hero, you're... Just another... Maverick."

X summoned his buster to his hand, he aimed it towards Axl in a similar manner.  
"On the contrary, Axl... It's YOU who's gone maverick!"

Without another word between the two hunters... the battle began. Axl unleashed a frenzy of his buster shots towards X, who simply jumped backwards and to the left in order to avoid the oncoming wave of pellets. Axl continued his offensive by keeping a bead on X and chasing after him, attempting time and time again to land his shots. However, the upgraded X was significantly faster then his older counterpart, and was able to evade the rounds without much difficulty. This was also partially because Axl himself was having difficulties aiming, because of the virus that was waging war against his body. X's counterattack was swift, as he unleashed a massively powerful round from his buster, large enough to completely swallow Axl if he didn't move. Axl cut off his attack and jumped out of the way of the massive blast, barely avoiding it at the last second. Axl rolled back over onto his back and took aim again, determined not to let X get off another shot of that magnitude. He held down the trigger and allowed the rapid fire shots to flow freely from his gun, which caused X to retreat in order to avoid being hit.

Axl got back up to his feet and pulled out his other buster. This new X was tough, but Axl was fighting on the side of justice... he wasn't about to lose to this copy. He knew for a fact that this wasn't the real X, it couldn't be, the X he knew would never act this way, he'd never fire upon an innocent reploid, or his friend. Everything about this new X was wrong, so Axl knew that he'd be doing the entire world a favor by destroying him.

This X was the kind of hero that the world didn't need, or want.

Axl jumped into the air, keeping himself airborne for a few moments while he unleashed a frenzy from above. He actually succeeded in hitting X with a few of his shots, though the blue Maverick Hunter was always successful in getting away before the shots did too much damage. X would fire the occassional super-charged round, but other then that he was completely on the evasive. It was something that had to change, as Axl started to realize that time wasn't on his side. The Sigma virus started eating away at him more and more, making his head burn with pain. However, something different came with the outburst this time... It was temptation.

Now that Axl knew what was causing his problems, he understood full well what would make them go away. Even more enticing, as the knowledge that if he used the power of the Sigma virus, his power would grow as well, he would be strong enough to overpower this copy X. However, that would also mean that Axl would go maverick... he would lose his humanity, the person he was would die forever, replaced by a heartless monster. Axl refused to let that happen to himself, he refused to become a monster in order to defeat a monster.

He would win, he would defeat both X and the Sigma Virus.

Axl, in his newfound determination, landed on the ground and ran towards X. He fired one of his busters directly at X, while keeping the other in reserve. If all went well, he could use his second gun to aim at where X was dodging towards, and catch the blue Maverick Hunter off guard. X jumped to the left to avoid the first round of buster fire, so Axl prepared his other gun, and opened fire where he predicted that X would come to a stop. Axl's forward thinking worked, and the blue maverick hunter was bombarded with rapid fire rounds to the chest. After enough rounds collided with X, he fell backwards and crashed against the ground, panting heavily. Axl stepped forward, keeping his guns concentrated on X.

X was down, Axl could finish him off at that moment if he wanted to, but, he couldn't pull the trigger. Axl looked down at the vulnerable maverick hunter, wondering what was stopping him from putting down this enemy. He wasn't the real X, but... Axl still just couldn't do it. X got up to a knee, he looked up at Axl with a bit of a cold smirk.  
"What? Don't have it in you to finish me off?"

Axl tried, he really tried to pull the trigger, yet... His finger wouldn't move, for whatever reason, Axl couldn't kill the person that so closely resembled his partner. X rose to his feet, laughing a bit at the hesitating opponent.  
"Very well then, I won't be so forgiving."

A strange aura started to surround X, which caused Axl to stop in wonder. He had never seen anything like this before, not even with the first X. After a few moments of transformation, X's armor changed. X was wearing something that looked vaguely familiar to the original X's ultimate armor, though this X's new armor seemed considerably more... mystic. X rose his buster again, seeming to be far more powerful with his new upgrade.  
"Prepare for retirement, maverick"

Axl shivered in anticipation, it was obvious even before the battle resumed that he was outmatched by the incredible power of this X's upgraded armor. Still, Axl wasn't about to just lay down and die, he was the good guy, he would find some way to overpower this opponent, just as he always had in the past. Though, in the past, he could always rely on X or Zero to help him, in this situation he was all alone. Still, that was no reason to surrender, Axl would fight until the last breath.  
"We'll just see about that!"

Axl fired his guns again, but instead of dodging or rolling out of the way, X simply vanished. Axl's eyes widened in dismay at the sudden disappearing act, he looked around him quickly, wondering where X had gone to. Axl spotted X after a few moments of looking, he was several feet behind Axl, standing in a calm, collected stance. Once again, this copy X rose his buster and aimed it at Axl.  
"Is that all you've got?"

From the cannon on X's arm, emerged a gargantuan beam of incredible proportions. Axl let out a panicked cry and threw himself out of the path of the beam. He came incredibly close to avoiding it, but he felt the hot pain of the beam as it ate through one of his arms. Axl let out a howl of pain as his arm was swallowed by the beam, his upper body slumped over while he still stood, with his good arm, he grasped the stubby section where he had a full arm just second ago.  
"Damn it... Damn it!"

Axl rose his gun up and pointed it at X, even though he knew it would he pointless, he had to try, he had to continue fighting. Then, at the worst possible time, the sigma virus made it's final stand. Pain like never before surged throughout Axl's entire body as the virus tried to claim him. The maverick hunter fell to his knees, shouting in agony as he grasped his head with his free hand. His gun fell to the ground, he no longer had the focus to hold it.

His gaze rose as he made out the blurry silhouette of X, walking slowly towards him. Axl realized at that moment, it would have been so easy for him to surrender to the sigma virus. It would have been so easy for him to use it as a weapon, use it as a tool to destroy this copy. The maverick hunter shook his head, he knew that he had already lost the physical battle, he refused to also lose the mental battle. If he was going to die, he would die as a maverick hunter, not a maverick. X put his buster right up towards Axl's face, and although Axl knew that this was the end, the unbearable pain that was caused by the Sigma virus made it utterly impossible for him to fight back.  
"Goodnight"

A significantly smaller blast came from X's buster, while smaller then the beam that had come just moments before, it was still large enough to do the job without question. Axl's entire body was consumed in the blast, and as the dust began to part, nothing but ash remained where there was a strong willed and proud maverick hunter just moments ago. X turned away, his face showing no expression whatsoever at the passing of Axl.  
"Maverick retired, continuing mission."

X vanished into a blue light, his reign of terror upon the town would continue.

* * *

At first, all he saw was a bright, blinding light, he couldn't identify anything outside of that light. After a few moments, his eyes started to adjust, he could make out the form of a purple scientist in a pure white lab coat. He sat up, and found that he had been laying on a programming table, as he rolled his legs off the table, he grasped his head slightly and groaned. The purple scientist spoke in a calm voice, though there seemed to be a great deal of relief from it.  
"Are you feeling alright, Zero?"  
"Zero... Is that my name?"

Zero shook his head slightly and pulled himself completely off the programming table, standing straight up for the first time in his life. He turned to the scientist, his voice was so similar to the original Zero, everything about him was similar, but made better.  
"Who are you?"

The scientist took several steps back, giving Zero a bit of space as he turned his attention to a nearby table.  
"My name is Gate, I am your creator, Zero."

Zero walked over towards Gate, he glanced over the scientist's shoulder to see a weapons. From what Zero could see, it was the handle of a sword, which seemed to be activated with the flick of a small switch on the bottom of the handle, the location of the switch would make the sword easy to activate, but would also eliminate the chance of the user accidentally turning it off in the middle of a fight, a very simple yet practical function. Zero spoke in a voice that hand a slight hint of curiosity, but was still generally calm and level headed.  
"Gate, why did you create me?"

Gate sighed, Zero's question was a common one, many Reploids asked the same question, curious about their creation. That was one advantage that Reploids had over humans, at least from Gate's perspective. Humans could live their entire lives wondering what they could contribute, what their duties were in the land. Reploids, on the other hand, knew exactly what their purpose in life was from the moment that the spark of life entered their eyes.  
"You were created to fight, Zero. You must fight for the future of our world, that is why I have created you."

Zero didn't wait for permission once he heard those words, he reached onto the table and grabbed the pommel of the sword. He backed away from Gate a safe distance and activated it, allowing the green energy to flow out of the handle. Zero took a moment to admire the glow, as it was obvious that he would be using this sword a lot before his time was up. Once he felt comfortable holding the weapon, which didn't take long, he looked over at Gate with a serious gaze.  
"If it is my purpose to fight, then tell me where I can start"

Gate's eyes drifted down in shame as he spoke, and once Zero heard his words it was clear why.  
"I need you to destroy a failed experiment of mine."

* * *

X was having a very good day, he had exterminated several potential mavericks before they had a chance to end the lives of any humans. His buster was currently pressed against the head of a reploid who he had identified as a potential maverick. These mavericks were getting crafty, this one was even pleading for his life.  
"P-please X! I don't even have the virus yet! Please don't kill me"

X's eyes were cold, dead, emotionless.  
"You are a reploid, therefore you will inevitably go maverick, it is only a matter of time."

X prepared to fire.  
"Just submit to your fate."

The maverick let out a final pleading cry, however, before X could finish off this maverick, he had to move in order to avoid a sword's slash. He glanced over to see the maverick fleeing in terror, it seemed like he'd have to allow this one to get away for the time being. X turned to the person that had interrupted his maverick hunter duties, and was surprised by what he saw. The assailant's armor was mostly black and red, but his most identifiable feature was his long blonde hair, which fell down to his ankles. In his hand was an energy sword, and his eyes were as cold and calculating as X's were. The red warrior rose up his sword, pointing it directly at X as he spoke.  
"Are you the copy X?"

X glared in anger, whoever this mysterious warrior was, he had just called X a copy. X wasn't a copy, he wasn't some cheap imitation, he was a perfect re-creation of the legendary hero. He was a hero, and he demanded that he be treated like one. X rose his buster up towards the red warrior, he poke in an angered voice.  
"No, I am X, I am the hero that will pave the way for a new generation."

The red warrior's response was quick.  
"Then you're the one I'm looking for, it is my duty to destroy you."

There was nothing but dead silence for a few seconds, then the battle began without another word. The two had reached a silent understanding, words would be pointless. Zero rushed towards X, gripping his sword tight as he swung it towards X with a downward slash. X dodged backwards to avoid the slash, and fired a blast from his buster towards the blonde haired warrior. Zero dodged with considerable ease by rolling to the side with a crisp motion. X knew instantly that this warrior would be a far greater challenge then the maverick hunter that he had overpowered a few hours ago.

Zero's attack continued almost instantly after his dodge, he closed the gap once again, sweeping his sword across X's waist. X was given minimal time to avoid the attack, however, he was able to leap backwards and completely miss the sword by a few centimeters. X used this new range to his advantage, as he aimed his buster at Zero's chest and attempted to open fire. Zero saw this as a potential counter to his attack, so he was well prepared even before he struck at X. When X aimed at Zero, but before he could get his shot off, Zero brought his blade around and stabbed it directly into X's cannon. X let out a shout of pain as the sword attack connected, he withdrew and held his arm, his breathing started to pick up from the sharp pain that he felt. X shot Zero a glare of anger and hatred, he had no idea who this warrior was, but he already knew that he absolutely hated him. The red warrior would have to die, or X's future would be put in jeopardy. Without giving Zero a chance to continue his attack, X summoned his enhanced armor, there was no reason for him to even consider holding back during this battle.

With his new armor attached, X began his attack with newfound might, he rocketed around Zero and fired a powerful burst at the warrior. Zero wasn't quite expecting such a surge in power, so the speed of his opponent's movements caught him off guard. He rolled to the side and managed to avoid the bulk of X's shot, but his entire left arm and a fraction of his shoulder were caught in the blast. Zero let out a small grunt of pain, he refused to give X anything more then that. Zero forced the pain out of his mind, he wouldn't be giving up this battle because of one limp arm. He ran towards X with newfound conviction, swinging his sword in his good hand. X didn't foresee Zero recovering so swiftly, so he became the victim of a sword in the shoulder. X shouted in anger as the blade connected, he used his other arm to punch Zero in the chest and force him backwards. Zero was relentless, even though he was shoved back briefly, he continued his onslaught before X could even take the time to realize what was happening. The arm that X had used to punch with was still extended, and after one more swing of Zero's sword, it wasn't even attached to X anymore.

X screamed in agony as he lost his arm, it was all that he could do before Zero finished the job by stabbing his blade directly into X's energy core. X's eyes shot wide open, he had been finished so easily. As the blade withdrew from his chest, X could feel the power drain from his body similar to the way that a regular human 'bleeds out'. Zero slid his blade back in it's sheath and turned his back away from the overpowered blue tyrant.  
"Mission complete"

Zero walked away as X fell to the ground, his power reserves ran out quickly, and his internal systems self-destructed. It was the way that all of the mavericks in the past had met their end, and it had become a bit of a tradition of the old partners that they finish their struggle with the destructive explosions of their opposition. As X detonated, Zero began his return to Gate's lab, he was already prepared for his next set of orders from the professor that created him.

* * *

Gate was just finishing his repairs as Zero returned to him. Zero would be rather alarmed by what he saw, as Gate's subject looked almost identical to his recent target. Zero prepared his blade, he was obviously a bit uneasy about Gate's work, and with good reason. However, after he took a few moments to think about what was happening, his arm rested easy. He spoke in a cool voice, despite extreme damage to his left arm.  
"So this is the original X, right?"

Gate nodded, he returned his attention to the Blue maverick hunter that he was operating on.  
"As I told to you before, I made a horrible mistake when I created my copy X. However, I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. So, I'm giving the original X a few power upgrades, and I'm going to bring him back to us, since I can't make a copy of the original, I'll just make the original stronger."  
"That's wise of you, Gate"

Gate nodded and went back to his work, it seemed that he was just about ready to return life to X. After he advanced a little bit in his work, he sighed and turned to Zero with a serious gaze.  
"Listen, Zero. I have new orders for you, a new purpose for you."  
"I'm listening."

Gate looked between X and Zero, he spoke in a quiet voice.  
"You are to serve X, obey his every command. Help him to achieve whatever goal he sets his mind to... He- he won't lead our kind astray, he's a hero"

Zero nodded, he spoke in the same cool and level voice as before, despite his new orders.  
"It will be done."

**_End of chapter 4_**

And so another chapter is all wrapped up. Sorry it's taken so long for me to get it out, but I have an extremely lousy work ethic when it comes to writing. Anyway, I should have another chapter to one of my stories up sometime soon...ish

maybe.

Anyway, same drill as always, if you've got an opinion about my writing that you'd like to share, you're more then welcome to post a review, I look forward to your feedback.

Till next time.


	5. Reborn Dreams

Time to make a full circle rotation and hit Zero's Legacy again. Don't really have a whole lot to say this time, just read and enjoy. Of course, as always, I encourage any reviews you might have. With that said, let's get straight to business.

* * *

**Megaman X: Zero's Legacy**

**Chapter 5: Reborn Dreams**

Gate turned to Zero as he rose out of the pod that he had been resting in, the red hunter shook his head uneasily and groaned as he awoke from his slumber. Since the two of them were waiting for X's information to finish loading, Gate took the time to fill Zero's mind with a backup file containing all of his past memories and experiences. Since his mind was overwhelmed with a large amount of information over a short time, it was no surprise that his head ached for a while. Chances were that it wouldn't take him very long to sort the memories into place, however, so the ache wouldn't last long. Gate spoke to Zero after a short pause between the two of them.  
"How do you feel, Zero? I'm sorry I couldn't have put the memories back into place earlier, but there simply wasn't time with my copy X running rampant."

Zero let the silence drag out for a little bit longer before he looked up at Gate and gave a brief nod.  
"Don't worry, Gate, I understand the circumstances. Besides, having that copy look so similar to the real X would have only slowed down my attacks."  
"Thank you for understanding."

Silence once again reigned between the two for another couple of minutes while Zero's memories sorted themselves out, and Gate went back to putting the last finishing touches on X's upgrades. Gate turned back to Zero after a while, his voice raising as he let out the good news.  
"He's ready to wake up now."

* * *

When he first opened his eyes, the only thing he could make out was a blurry light. There were two people standing over him, though all he could make out were faint outlines. Slowly, the blurs began to go away, and he could start to make out more detailed shapes, forms, and faces. Before he got the chance to see too many details of the two people, however, a familiar voice spoke out to him, though it was one that he hadn't heard for many years.  
"Welcome back to the world of the living, X."

It was the voice of Gate, an old enemy of X that he had defeated years ago. Without a doubt, Gate's voice was one that X never expected to hear again. However, it didn't sound like it he was hostile, and X did recall Alia saying that she wanted to try and restore him to his original self. Because of that, he wasn't preparing for any acts of hostility, if Gate was back, then Alia had to have succeeded at bringing him back to the side of the Maverick Hunters. X began to slowly sit up, he lowered his head into his hand, his memories were a bit of a blur, even now.  
"Gate? What happened?"

Gate walked over to the side of the table where X was sitting up, he averted his gaze with a bit of shame in his voice.  
"I'm sorry, X. I just wanted the world to move on without relying on you to lead the way."**  
**"Gate?"

A person that looked rather similar to Zero stepped into X's field of vision as X rose his head upward. There were some key differences to note, for instance, this Zero looked significantly more human then the old one did, and his face looked younger. However, he had the same kind of strong, confident atmosphere about him that the old Zero did.  
"Don't worry about the doctor's words, I've already taken care of that little mess."

X looked towards Gate, a clear look of surprise in his eye at the sudden appearance of this second Zero.  
"Gate, who is this?"

Zero paused for a moment in disbelief of what X had just said, he stepped closer to X and put his thumb up against his own chest.  
"What? You really mean to say that I look that different? C'mon X, you've got three guesses."

X's eyes widened a little as he looked back at the remade Zero, was this really his oldest his friend in a new body?  
"Z-Zero? You're back?"

Zero smirked a little and shrugged at X.  
"What? You're acting like this is the first time I've come back from the dead."

X nodded and stepped off the table, it was at that moment that he realized that his legs were much lighter then the were before. He smiled happily at Zero before he turned his attention to Gate.  
"So, Gate, how exactly did I get in here?"

Gate finally turned his attention back towards the two maverick hunters, he addressed X's question in a serious tone.  
"You were badly damaged after your battle with that black maverick. So I brought you here and made the necessary repairs, they just took a bit longer then I would have liked..."

X tilted his head to the side, a little bit confused by Gate's words, and the guilt in his tone, before the scientist turned back around to face X with a serious gaze.  
"So, X, are you feeling your upgrades yet? It wasn't easy, but I managed to give your system a complete overhaul without touching your memories or your conscience."  
"Complete overhaul?"

X stepped to the side of Gate and looked into a nearby full sized mirror. Initially, he was a bit stunned at just how different he looked. Like Zero, his entire armor layout seemed thinner, smoother, and more human. Like Zero, his face looked quite a bit younger then before. And again, like Zero, he still held an eerie similarity to his old self, despite all of the obvious changes. After taking a moment to absorb the sight of his new body, X turned to Gate with a surprised look on his face.  
"I've got to be honest, Gate. I feel amazing right now, I don't think I've ever felt so powerful before."

Gate nodded, he seemed relieved that X approved of his upgrades.  
"That's to be expected, you were well overdue for a technological upgrade."  
"Well, we always made it work in the past, even when the enemies had physical strength over us, we were always skilled enough to ensure victory."  
"And now, that victory will be much easier for you to attain."

Gate turned away and began to clean his table off the tools that he had just finished working with. X took a step closer and spoke in a lighter voice then he did a moment ago.  
"Gate... Thank you, for all of this."

Gate nodded, though he didn't look back towards X as the blue hunter showed his gratitude.  
"Not a problem. You put that new power to good use, okay, X?"

X nodded, he held up his right hand to his chest and lightly pounded it.  
"That's a promise."

X then made his way to the door that would take him out of Gate's lab, Zero followed behind silently. Once the two of them were gone, Gate sighed slightly and turned around to rest his back against the counter that he had faced only seconds ago.  
"I've done all I can to help you, X... The rest is up to you."

With that sentiment out of the way, Gate turned his attention towards a message on the monitor that he had been trying to ignore until X left. He walked towards his terminal and activated it, sure that it was likely Alia, since she was the only person who knew about his hidden lab. However, this time the sender was anonymous, and the text contained information that utterly shocked Gate. He leaned forward onto the terminal and read it again.  
"Huh?"

* * *

X came to a stop in the middle of the street as Zero finished telling his story about what happened with the counterfeit X. Zero had just gotten to the part where the copy X had apparently killed multiple innocent Reploids before Zero put a stop to him. One of the casualties was a friend to the both of them, Axl, the first of many who tried to stand up to him. X's head sunk, and his entire body seemed a bit more lax because of the recent news.  
"I see... To think that a copy of me could have caused so much pain... Axl..."

Zero watched X in his remorse. He himself lowered his head down a little bit, ashamed that he hadn't been able to act sooner, and save more lives. After a brief silence between the two of them, X muttered something under his breath.  
"...Who am I protecting?"

Zero took a few steps forward, he leaned against the side of a nearby building and crossed his arms.  
"What do you mean, X?"

X's gaze sunk even lower, he looked at one of his hands as though it held some kind of hidden answer to his troubles.  
"I joined the maverick hunters so that I could protect people, so that I could create a better world in which humans and reploids could exist in peace. But, even with me trying my absolute hardest, people still suffer, people still die meaningless deaths."

Zero kept silent, simply allowing X to go about his venting.  
"Sigma, Doppler, the Repliforce, the Eurasia incident, Lumine... Every time that we fight to create a world of peace, something goes against us, something stands in our way as we struggle so hard for our dreams of a peaceful world. All the years I spent as a maverick hunter, I thought I was making a difference, but I can't even protect my closest friends."

Zero pulled himself off the wall and looked down the road, not casting his gaze directly on X.  
"So then, change it."

X looked up at Zero, a little confused by his words.  
"What do you mean?"

Zero turned his gaze towards X.  
"Change the world, make one where your dreams are reality."

X paused about this, and thought for a considerable length of time.  
"My dreams... A world where humans and reploids can live in harmony, without fear."  
"If the maverick hunters aren't able to give you the world you want, forget them. Do it yourself."  
"Do it myself..."

X's eyes filled with resolve once again after a little more time lost in thought. He lifted himself up and stood with determination once again, the old X was out of his slump.  
"Alright then, that's what I'll do. If others can't create the utopia that I dream of, then I'll do it myself. Thank you, Zero."

X made his way down the road again, Zero asked him a question as he walked alongside the blue hunter.  
"Do you think that the maverick hunters will let you go so easily? I mean, I'm presumed as dead, so I've got that easy out, but you on the other hand..."  
"After everything we've done for them, they should."

Less then a half an hour later, X stood in the office of the head maverick hunter, prepared to request his separation from the hunters. There were many that didn't recognize him at first because of the change in his appearance, however after he answered a few security questions, they were able to trust that he was the real X. Zero remained outside, out of sight. Since he was announced as dead, he decided it would be best if he just stayed that way and let X resign on his own. The leader of the maverick hunters was a man named Signas, who carried an uncanny resemblance to the colonel of the repliforce, from a war several years back. X only ever shared a few brief words with the man, along with a short battle in city hall, but the memories of killing Colonel had haunted Zero ever since. Apparently, they had been friends for several years.

Signas rested his head on his hands and leaned forward on his desk as X requested his separation from the hunters.  
"X, are you really sure that you want to separate?"

X nodded, the resolve clear in his eyes.  
"Yes, Signas. I can't live my entire life just taking orders and hoping things will change."

Signas sighed and leaned backwards, he reached down into one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a holographic pad containing X's information.  
"I can understand how you can feel the way you do, X. After losing both Zero and Axl, it can't be easy to be the last one standing."  
"That's right, sir."

X had decided to hold his tongue on the existence of Zero's new body, since it would only needlessly complicate things. Signas started punching in some information into the pad, he spoke while he did so.  
"It's going to be a shame, losing you too X, but if you want to leave, then I can't stop you. Just know that if you ever change your mind, the maverick hunter's door is always open to you."  
"Thank you."

After a few more moments passed in silence, Signas put down the pad and looked back up at X.  
"Well, that's it, you're no longer a maverick hunter."

X nodded and turned to leave, however, Signas spoke again before he completely left.  
"X, thank you for everything you've done for us. You've saved more lives then you could even imagine during your time as a hunter."

X hesitated for a moment before he smiled and nodded again. Without another word, he turned and left Signas' office, and moved on with his life.

* * *

Gate stepped through the unknown lab, all of the blinking lights, unusual sounds, chirping of machines, all of it was entirely alien to him. The things that were happening in this lab were unlike anything else that Gate had ever known before. Then again, Gate was only ever familiar with robotics, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise that a lab of a different science would be different for him. As he found his way to the main room, he opened the door and stepped through, where he saw a young man, no older then twenty, standing in front of a computer monitor. Also in the room was a woman, who appeared to be just a little bit older then the man, five years at the most. As Gate stepped in, he knocked lightly on the door and paused to let his entrance be known.  
"Are you the people that sent me that message?"

The woman turned away from her work and looked towards Gate. After a moment, she walked forward and offered him a hand.  
"Dr. Gate, I assume? I'm Dr. Celira, a biological engineer. This is my associate, Dr. Weil."

The man did nothing but nod briefly and curtly towards Gate as the reploid shook Celria's hand. He began to look around the lab, a bit of curiosity in his voice as he spoke.  
"Dr. Celira, what is it that the two of you are researching here?"

Celira guided Gate over to a nearby stand, some complicated schematics rested on it that Gate couldn't immediately identify. Since his field was robotics, this was rather foreign to him. Celira spoke with a rather swift voice, indicating that she had a lot she wanted to say.  
"Weil and I are working on an artificial biological lifeform, one capable of interacting with the reploid mainframe."

Gate looked over the schematics and started to familiarize himself with the general layout, as well as a few reoccurring themes that he recognized from repeated glances.  
"Is such a thing even possible?"  
"Not yet, but we hope to change that."

Gate took a step back and glanced over at Celira, her words had sparked a great deal of interest about the subject in him.  
"And what would you do with this lifeform?"

Celira's eyes flickered a little, indicating that she was hoping he would ask such a question.  
"Ideally, we could use these lifeforms as a way to eliminate many of the mental discrepancies present in reploids."  
"You could use these to destroy the Sigma virus!"

Celira nodded, from the look on her face, she was very pleased with the way this conversation was going.  
"Exactly. The biggest problem presented before us right now is this, though. We honestly don't know enough about the virus to properly program our lifeforms, our 'cyber elves', to counteract it."

Celira turned to a nearby terminal and pulled up some information.  
"After doing a bit of digging, I was able to uncover that the source of the virus actually comes from Zero, the legendary maverick hunter."

Gate paused, he suddenly got an idea for why he was called here, as Celira turned to face him and put her back against the stand.  
"And, well, you're the expert when it comes to Zero. I mean, High max, that copy body of Zero you made, if anybody knows about the inner workings of that legendary fighter, it's you."

Gate shook his head a little, stunned that this woman knew so much about things that she shouldn't. Nobody was even supposed to know that he was alive, and yet this woman knew, not only that he was brought back, but that he had brought Zero back to life by putting his 'heart' and his memories into a new body. Gate looked at Celira curiously, wondering how she had come across such information.  
"With all due respect, Dr. Celira, how do you know so much about me and my work?"

Celira paused for a second as Gate questioned her about the information she was able to gather. She spoke in a slightly quieter tone then before as she let out her source.  
"Alia let me in on her little secret, after I asked her for her input, she told me that she knew somebody who'd be able to help. After that, it was rather easy for me to put the pieces together, and work from there."

Gate shut his eyes and nodded silently. If Alia trusted these people, then he didn't see any harm in working with them as well.  
"I see, so you want to better understand Zero's operating system so that you can learn more about the virus."  
"Yes. And unfortunately, Zero's original body was destroyed beyond recovery, so I figured that we could just call in the expert on Zero instead of spend years trying to put the pieces back together."

Gate turned his attention back to the schematics that Celira had resting on the table. Though there were several parts that he still didn't recognize, he started to put enough together to realize that Celira was indeed true to her word, one of her primary wishes was for these cyber elves to be able to cure the Sigma virus.  
"Alright then, I'll do what I can to help you."

Celira's eyes carried a sudden gleam of delight as Gate agreed to help them. Gate had always been a pretty good judge of character, even back before the Zero nightmare incident, he had no reason to believe that Celira would use this information for the wrong purposes, or even allow it to be used as such.  
"Thank you, Gate. With your help, we may just be able to make our dream a reality."


End file.
